


Full Circle

by mousapelli



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-07
Updated: 2016-06-07
Packaged: 2018-07-12 20:23:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7121260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mousapelli/pseuds/mousapelli
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was embarrassingly easy for the two of them to lose touch with each other, but maybe they can still start again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Full Circle

**Author's Note:**

> Written for 2016 SASO prompt fills: Remember how we didn't keep in touch for all those years, and yet somehow I found you again where you always belonged by my side on the court?

It was embarrassingly easy for the two of them to lose touch with each other. The majority of it is his fault, Oishi is old enough now to admit. After he blew out his knee in their last year of high school, it was the best thing for both of them if he stopped tennis all together. Oishi couldn't live with himself if he held Eiji back, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt when he watched Eiji play matches without him. It was so much easier to give the excuse of schoolwork or university exams or summer internship hours, and eventually Eiji stopped inviting Oishi. 

The others were better about keeping in touch with Oishi, Tezuka and Inui keeping him up to date with what was happening on the Japanese pro circuit, and Momoshiro and surprisingly sometimes Ryoma letting him know when they happened to go out to dinner with Eiji or any of the others. Sometimes one of the others even showed up on Oishi's apartment doorstep to drag him away from studying for a few hours, and Oishi could never resist treating his wayward kouhai. 

"You should go see him," Momoshiro says bluntly after they've had a few drinks. 

Oishi shrugs. "He knows where to find me. Heaven knows you all do."

"He thinks you don't want to see him." Momoshiro lifts his hands helplessly. "Is he right? Honestly, senpai, I'm surprised, really surprised. It's not like I thought you'd play forever, but it's pretty sad to live in a world where even the Golden Pair can't at least stay friends."

"Well…" Oishi doesn't really have an answer for Momoshiro. That night he tries to send Eiji an email, and when it bounces he thinks, ah. That's it then. 

For the next few years, that is it. Oishi works hard at medical school, but in the end switches to sports medicine, his love of tennis taking hold of him again when he does a training rotation with the local high school. Working with young athletes makes him happier than any of his other internships have by far, and he slips easily back into the role of advisor for both injuries and training. He even emails Inui for suggestions from time to time, and Inui seems amused by the turn Oishi has taken. 

After graduation, it takes Oishi a little while to build up a reputation as a trainer, so he takes the work he can get. That's how he ends up being a court-side trainer at a collegiate tournament in Tokyo. He thinks it'll just be a weekend like a lot of others he's been doing, full of minor sprains and muscle cramps, but life is funny and somehow one of the celebrity support pro players for the opening ceremony is Kikumaru Eiji. 

Somehow halfway through his exhibition match, Eiji tweaks his ankle, and that's how they end up sitting together courtside, Oishi's hands on Eiji's bare skin. 

"Well, this feels familiar," Eiji grumbles, and Oishi smiles. Always prone to minor injuries from bouncing around like a nut, Oishi couldn't even hazard a guess how many times he's checked Eiji for injury just like this. "My coach is going to murder me. What do you think?"

"I think you're okay," Oishi says, and Eiji heaves a sigh of relief. It's a lot harder to look Eiji in the eye than to look at his ankle, but Oishi forces himself to do it anyway. "Eiji…I'm sorry that it's been so long. I should have…" Oishi trails off, not sure what he should have done exactly. 

"Aw, Oishi, forget it," Eiji says, apparently having just as much trouble looking Oishi in the eye. "You were busy with school and stuff. I could have tried harder too. It just…it hurt, you know. You just watching me and not being able to play too. Every time you made an excuse, I was kind of relieved. Ah!" Eiji catches himself. "That sounds terrible! It's not that I didn't want you there!"

"It's fine," Oishi tells him, a knot rising in his throat at the realization that the situation was painful for Eiji too. He'd never thought to ask, figuring Eiji was happy so long as he could keep playing. "It did hurt, watching you play without me. But it was stupid to act like tennis was the only reason we were friends. Can you forgive me?"

"Yeah, I think so," Eiji agrees, chuckling. His voice is a little deeper than Oishi remembers, and his face is a little different, too. This is what Kikumaru Eiji the adult looks like, and Oishi feels a little shy, hoping he seems like he's become an adult as well. "But only if you get dinner with me after this."

A few days later, Oishi is surprised to get a text from Eiji. [This is my new number] it says. [Call me if that's okay with you?]

Intrigued, Oishi adds Eiji back to his contact list, and then hits call, wondering what's up. Even in high school Eiji hadn't preferred the phone (although nobody was as bad as Tezuka), preferring to text. 

"So, um," Eiji stutters a little, and that's also unusual, but Oishi listens patiently. "The thing is, I've been through a couple trainers lately and I can't seem to find anybody I like, and maybe this isn't okay since we just re-met, so you can say no, you know? But…is there any way you'd want to…it's just that Oishi knows me best."

Oishi realizes he's holding his breath and lets it out. It's a much better job than any of the one's he's been applying for, he's sure without even asking the details. "Is it all right for you?"

"Why are you asking me?" Eiji counters. "Is it all right? You'll have to watch me play. I'll be paying you. Ugh, that's weird. Do you think that would be all right? With you, I mean."

Oishi thinks about it, really thinks, and he finds that yes, he thinks it might actually be fine. He's missed being on the same court as Eiji, but maybe there's more than one way he can do that. 

"I think," Oishi answers slowly, "that I'd like that a lot." And then he has to smile as Eiji whoops so loudly into the phone that Oishi has to hold it arms-length away from his ear.


End file.
